


What Dreams May Come

by JoyHeart



Category: Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon & Comics)
Genre: Angst, Bad end, Gen, State Of Dreaming, one of the brothers doesnt make it and its not the one thats not wirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27274297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoyHeart/pseuds/JoyHeart
Summary: "Come, child, and I will tell you a story. Once upon a time, on All Hallows Eve, two young brothers found themselves lost in the woods.Though the brothers faced many challenges and trials in the Unknown, in the end, both would come to ruin, because though one was fearful and the other fearless, neither feared the Beast. Neither feared the Beast, and so neither sought to stay in the lit clearings that dotted the Unknown. Instead they strayed so far into the depths of the woods in their bid to return home that there could be no hope for them. The two fell asleep amid gathering snowdrifts, and grew into fine edelwood trees, fated to be cut down by the very woodsman who tried to warn them, and fed to the fire of the Beast’s heart"“But that’s not what happened!”"Oh? And how then, pray tell, does it end?”
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	What Dreams May Come

**Author's Note:**

> I was sneaking around in my old WIP folder on my computer and found this. It was originally the first chapter of a fanfic I never finished, but I think it actually works just fine as a one shot, so I'm posting it. What with it being spooky month and all.

**What Dreams May Come**

“Come, child, and I will tell you a story. Once upon a time, on All Hallows Eve, two young brothers found themselves lost in the woods.

The younger brother was short, bright, and optimistic. He did not fear the woods, and was only excited to be on an adventure with his older brother.

The older brother was tall, gangly, and pessimistic. He felt encroaching terror as every step seemed to grow darker, the sky long blotted out by leaves high above. Alongside the terror he felt anger. Anger at himself for his failings. Angry at the world for not being easier to understand. Angry at his younger brother for causing him trouble with his constant cheerful attitude and youthful antics.

The two brothers wandered the woods for some time until they came across a lone woodsman who took them to his home where they warmed by the fire and were warned of the great beast that haunted the woods they travelled. The younger brother did not fear the woodsman’s warning. The older brother feared the woodsman himself, believing him mad.

Though the brothers faced many challenges and trials in the Unknown, in the end, both would come to ruin, because though one was fearful and the other fearless, neither feared the Beast. Neither feared the Beast, and so neither sought to stay in the lit clearings that dotted the Unknown. Instead they strayed so far into the depths of the woods in their bid to return home that there could be no hope for them. The two fell asleep amid gathering snowdrifts, and grew into fine edelwood trees, fated to be cut down by the very woodsman who tried to warn them, and fed to the fire of the Beast’s heart.”

_“But that’s not what happened!”_

“Oh? And how then, pray tell, does it end?”

“ _The brothers escaped! They tricked you and escaped back home! They woke up and it was all a dream!”_

 _“_ A dream? A dream you say? And how would the brothers know that the dream was not the waking? That their escape was only the dying wish as they succumbed to the soil of the earth?”

“ _Stop it! Of course it wasn’t a dream!”_

 _“_ How do you know?” 

_“I can tell the difference between being awake and asleep!”_

 _“_ Oh really? You can tell the difference between dreams and reality? Between life and death and the land between?”

_“W-well, maybe not all the time, but…”_

“Then tell me, Wirt, are you awake now?”

“ _I uh, y-yes? Wait! No! I mean…”_

A deep rumble of laughter echoed around them. “Wake up Wirt…”

*

_“WAKE UP, WIRT!_ ” The excited cry of Greg startled Wirt from sleep and a dream that he was only catching fading bits of. A deep, mocking voice. Darkness. Bright, familiar eyes…

“Greg! Quit bouncing on my bed!” Wirt snapped waspishly, never a morning person. “What time is it?”

Greg, who most decidedly did NOT stop with his bouncing, hummed with thought. “Dinner time! Mom said to wake you up cause you’ve been sleeping too much.”

“Oh, right.” Wirt stretched and felt his back crick, memories from earlier returning. After stumbling around in a bleary haze all day he had fallen into bed the moment he got home. Must have fallen asleep on impact. He wasn’t exactly surprised, he had been sleeping at night less and less the past several weeks. He figured it was stress from his final exams, along with staying up late to finish a multitude of homework assignments the school was piling on. “Tell mom I’ll be right down. Uh, I’m just going to wash my hands first. You probably should too.”

“Wash up for dinner? Phht, not today!” Greg stuck his tongue out and ran from the bedroom. Wirt sighed and rubbed at his eyes. He still felt tired. He wanted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, he knew well that there was no way that his mom was going to let him get away with that one, so Wirt heaved himself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom his brother had bypassed. He washed his hands slowly, and looked up into the mirror and groaned at the dark circles under his eyes. It looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. Wirt leaned in close and rubbed at the bags, but no change. Then he leaned backward and let out a scream.

In his reflection, branching out from either side of his head, were two enormous antlers.

“Wirt? Are you okay, honey?” Wirt heard his mom call down the hall as he squeezed his eyes shut and trembled before peeking back at his weary reflection. The antlers were gone. Was he really so tired he was hallucinating now?

“I’m fine, just uh, hit my uh, stubbed my toe! Yep, all good here! Don’t worry about me!” Wirt called back, wincing at the squeak his voice made partway through. Shaking the water off his hands and wiping them on his pants, Wirt practically ran out of the bathroom.

“Wirt, slow down!” Wirt’s stepdad, Chris, yelped as Wirt nearly ran straight into him. “That isn’t going to help that toe! Your mom’s got dinner ready downstairs.”

“Huh? Oh, right, ow! Sorry Chris, uh, right.” Wirt edged by to the stairs and stumbled down quickly, his stepdad following behind. Evidently he had come up to check on him.

When he got down to the kitchen and the small family dinner table, Wirt’s mom took one look at him before coming over to feel his forehead.

“Well, you’re not warm…” she said with concerned tones, “But you look awfully pale.”

“Yeah, uh, I might be getting sick. I just feel tired.”

“Sounds like you need fuel in the fire!” Wirt’s mom smiled as she heaped some yellow curry rice on Wirt’s plate. Wirt’s stomach flip flopped, though it wasn’t from the food by any means.

“Mom could you not… uh…” Wirt trailed off.

“Not what, hon?”

“Um… nothing. Sorry. Yeah, I probably need to eat something.” Wirt sank into his chair, feeling at a distance from everything as he began picking at his food, taking small mouthfuls.

“Alright, but let me know if you start feeling sick at all, okay? I can get you something milder to eat.” Wirt’s mom turned to her husband. “Didn’t you say there was a bug going around?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Chris nodded as he began to eat as well. “I think a lot of the kids from Wirt’s school have been coming down with it. Seen a few in the clinic. It affects sleeping patterns, along with some general cold symptoms. Nothing dangerous, except for when the kids fall asleep in class!”

“Oh, uh, maybe I am coming down with that, then,” Wirt said as he moved in his seat slightly and glanced at his parents on either side of him with a nagging feeling in the back of his head. “Uh, hey um…” Wirt felt a sudden throb behind his eye. “Isn’t there… isn’t there something… missing?”

“Missing? Like what, Wirt?” Wirt’s stepdad asked with a puzzled expression.

“Just… I don’t know…” Wirt rubbed at his forehead. “Something…”

“Keep eating, Wirt,” Wirt’s mom said with an indulgent sigh. “No need to get worked up over it. Finish your dinner and go back to bed, okay? Maybe all you need is a good night’s sleep.”

“I hope so,” Chris said, shaking his head. “Whatever’s going around, it might not be dangerous but it’s long lasting. I think our first case has had it about, oh, six weeks now?”

“Six weeks?” Wirt blinked. “So since Halloween?”

“Yes, probably picked it up from being up too late.” Chris nodded. “Luckily all you got from falling in that pond was a cold, right Wirt?”

“Right.” Wirt felt that throb again. Despite only eating a few bites, Wirt felt his stomach heave again. “Sorry, um, I don’t… I don’t think I can finish this…”

“Oh honey, don’t worry. I’ll get you some crackers and ginger ale. Maybe an Advil. Sound good?” Wirt’s mom asked, standing up.

“Yeah, thanks mom.” Wirt gave his mom a weak smile as she got up to fetch some things around the kitchen. Within a few minutes, Wirt was medicated and after satisfying his mother by eating a few crackers and having a few swigs of bland soda, Wirt was back upstairs and tucked into bed. Despite his recent insomnia, he found himself falling quickly asleep.

*

“Come child, and I will tell you a story. A redheaded girl who once lived in an old mill house with many brothers and sisters had a bitter temper and a wild sensibility. She overheard a woman in a blue dress speaking ill of her mother, calling her ‘Catholic whore’ and other evil things. The girl threw a rock at the woman in the blue dress and called her many foul names. Only later she learned that the woman was married to the man who owned the land her father tilled. Within a week, her family was left on the streets with nothing to eat but dirt and worms. Each one starved to death, and the girl had only herself to blame.”

“ _That’s not what happened!”_

“Oh really? Then tell me, boy, how does the story go, if you know so well?”

“ _The girl threw a rock at a bluebird, not a woman! She turned into a bird, and so did her family. But she found the scissors to cut their wings off and returned them to normal!”_

“Oh really? Did you see this be so?”

_“N-not all of it, but I know it’s the truth!”_

“The truth? The truth? You think you know the truth? Surely you know it makes far more sense for a family to starve to death, then it is that they turn into bluebirds.”

“ _It might not make sense, but it’s what happened.”_

“You sound awfully certain. Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”

“ _Of course I… wait… maybe… it would make more sense… maybe it was a dream?”_

“Wirt, you need to wake up…”

*

“Wirt, you need to wake up!” Wirt opened his eyes. His bedroom was dark, but he recognised two large eyes taking up his vision.

“Greg! What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night!”

“I know, I just…” Greg clasped his little hands together. “I really want to show you something!”

“Now? Can’t it wait till morning?” Wirt asked in a waspish tone, turning over into his pillow again. He felt very cozy there, and wasn’t keen to move.

“No! Please, Wirt. It’s Jason Funderburker!”

“Urgh, Jason Funderburker.” Wirt growled. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

“No, not HUMAN Jason Funderburker, I mean my frog!”

“Oh… right your… what about him?” Wirt asked, working hard to move his heavy limbs.

“Look, out the window, Wirt!” Greg said as he bounced off the bed and ran across the room, pointing frantically out the window that faced the front lawn. Wirt was slow to follow, but follow he did. He peered out the window and found himself squinting as the ground below seemed to blur. Down on the lawn, though, was quite clearly a large frog, its stomach aglow as it did alternating squats and push ups.

“Uh… what is happening? I’m still dreaming, right?” Wirt said blankly.

“Yes, Wirt!” Wirt turned around quickly, but only saw his empty room. Wirt clutched at his chest, feeling startled at the sudden voice. He turned back to the window, but stumbled back with a short scream as this time lurking behind his reflection in the fogged glass was a towering dark figure with bright, glowing eyes.

“NO! GET BACK!” Wirt yelled as he fell backwards onto the floor. A moment later the light flickered on overhead and Wirt saw his parents coming into the room, both looking shaken up.

“Wirt?” his mother asked, looking very concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I- yes? I think…” Wirt looked at the wall in front of him, trying to calm down He turned his head toward his bed and the window sitting above it with confusion written across his face. “I thought… it seemed so real but…”

“Bad dream, huh?” his dad let out a bark of a laugh and walked over to ruffle Wirt’s hair and help him up and toward his bed. “I don’t blame you, what with the news and all.”

“Th-the news?” Wirt asked, frowning.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” Wirt’s mother said gently as she tucked him back into bed. “I know it’s scary with so many kids falling sick like that, but I’m sure your little cold won’t turn into what they’re going through.”

“What are they going through, exactly?” Wirt asked, brow furrowed.

“Well, it’s like I told you earlier,” Wirt’s mother told him softly, “The children are getting sick. They stop sleeping, and start coughing, and then they fall asleep all at once and don’t wake up again.”

“What?” Wirt asked, feeling dread tug at his heart. “What are you talking about? You didn’t tell me that!”

Wirt’s mom and dad exchanged worried looks and his mom felt his forehead.

“You look peaky, honey. Go back to sleep. We will get through this. I promise.” The two went to the doorway and shut off the light. Wirt was plunged into darkness.

“I don’t want to sleep,” Wirt told the darkness, even as everything around him blurred sharply, and sleep smothered him from all sides.

*

“Come child, and I will tell you a story. Once upon a time, a little girl lived in a house in the woods with her father. The little girl thought she was very brave, and though she was always warned against it, she frequently went wandering alone in the woods. One day on one of her little adventures, she followed some black turtles deep, deep among the trees and became hopelessly lost for days. Dehydrated and sick, the little girl died in the woods. Not long after, her father came looking for her. Out of the goodness of his heart, the Beast of the forest found the woodsman and told him the fate of his daughter, but assured him that though the girl’s body decayed, her life continued on inside the blazing lantern the Beast showed to the Woodsman. He told the Woodsman that as long as the fire remained lit, his daughter would live on inside.

Fueled by grief and by fear, the Woodsman took the lantern and fueled it with the oil of the edelwood trees. He never returned to his house, and spent the rest of eternity in service to the lantern, with the Beast assisting him by giving him edelwood trees to fuel the fire. To ensure his daughter’s spirit continued, the Woodsman fed her the souls of all others that entered the forest, and this was so forevermore.”

_“You’re wrong! That’s not what happened!”_

“Oh really? Then what do you think happened, clever boy?”

_“The girl’s soul was never in the lantern! The Woodsman found out and destroyed the Beast! The Beast is dead! He’s gone forever!”_

“Is that so? Do you claim to know how eternity ends?”

“ _What? What are you talking about?”_

“The Beast lasts eternal. There is no defeating it.”

“ _But there is! The Woodsman blew out the flame! The Beast is gone! His soul is gone!”_

“But if the Beast is gone, then **_WHO AM I?!_** ”

“WIRT!”

*

Wirt’s eyes snapped open, but he only saw blackness. He squinted into it. “Greg? Is that you?”

Wirt thought he heard his name from far away but he wasn’t sure. He blinked a few times, and felt a sense of growing dread with each blink. He couldn’t remember ever being surrounded by so much pure darkness before, as though every light had been snuffed out.

Straining his ears, Wirt thought he heard breathing, but he couldn’t be sure. Carefully, Wirt sat up and felt around his bedsheets, all the way to the edges of the bed and felt nothing unusual.

“Greg?” Wirt tried again, a little hesitant. This time he jumped as he heard a response.

“Wirt, can you see me?”

“No, I can’t see anything. W-where are you, Greg?”

“Uh oh, I’m sorry Wirt, I didn’t mean to make you blind. This is harder than it looks.”

“Greg, you’re not making sense. Why can’t I see? What did you do?”

“Wirt, when you wake up, you need to look for me, okay? You need to follow me. Don’t worry about anything else, just follow me, okay?”

“What do you mean when I wake up? What do you…”

“Don’t worry Wirt, I’m gonna get us both out of here!”

“Out of where? Greg!”

*

“Come child, and I’ll tell you a story. Once upon a time, a boy got lost in the dark. He wandered around and around in circles, trying to escape from his reality in dreams and bedtime stories. But fact was fact, and it was long too late. His brother tried to save him, but he failed in his task, and the boy was left in the arms of the shadows, never to be seen again.”

“ _No, that’s not how it ends.”_

“Oh really? How does it end, then, Wirt?”

“ _I saved Greg! We went home! I KNOW we went home!”_

“Who said the boy was Greg?”

“ _What?”_

“Foolish child, the one lost in the dark is **_YOU.”_**

*

Wirt opened his eyes. Sunlight streamed in from the window. Wirt stretched and got up, feeling well rested. He got out of bed and walked into the hallway. Across the hall was his parents’ bedroom with the door standing open. No one was inside, but Wirt heard sounds from the kitchen. Wirt headed downstairs and sat at the table set for three. His stepfather was already there eating his eggs. His mother was brewing coffee. Wirt took his seat to his stepfather’s left and sat idle for a moment, thinking there was something he was forgetting.

“Are you ready for school today, Wirt?” Wirt’s mom asked from the stove where she was flipping pancakes.

Wirt looked to his left and looked enviously at his stepfather eating cereal with a smile on his face. “Yeah, I am.”

“That’s great, dear,” Wirt’s mom said from her place at the table, reading the paper.

Wirt froze as he heard a tapping sound. He looked around in confusion.

“What’s wrong, son?” His father asked, pausing in eating his sandwich.

“Something’s wrong here… I just can’t put my finger on it…”

“Well I’m sure it’s nothing,” Wirt’s mom said with a laugh as she played a game on her phone.

“What’s that tapping…?” Wirt looked to the window and saw Greg standing outside holding his frog in his arms. There was a teakettle on his head for some reason. He was smiling and waving. Wirt’s shoulders relaxed. “Oh, it’s just Greg.”

“Greg?” Wirt’s stepfather asked.

“Yeah, he’s outside the window. Guess he ran out early, should I go catch him or…?”

Wirt’s mother and father looked at him strangely.

“Who is Greg, Wirt?” Wirt’s stepfather asked.

“You must be getting sick, Wirt. I’ve heard there’s an illness going around your school, kids falling asleep and not waking up again.” Wirt’s mom nodded, looking concerned.

Wirt’s breath quickened. A sharp pain shot behind his eyes.

“No, Greg’s my brother, don’t you remember? Greg I… I’m supposed to do something I…” The dream. He had to… “I have to follow Greg!” Wirt stumbled to his feet and made for the front door.

“Wirt, NO!” Wirt’s mother grabbed Wirt’s wrist. Her fingers twisted and hardened into thick wooden vines, holding him down.

Wirt screamed and yanked at the brittle vines till they broke, but ran straight into his stepfather, who grabbed him by the shoulders. Wirt looked up, up, much higher than he should have. His stepfather’s eyes were wide and far too bright, and from his head large branches were growing and casting dark shadows on the ceiling.

“NO! Let go!” Wirt shouted, breaking away and running for the front door, even as each step seemed slowed to molasses. Still, he managed to wrench the door open at last, and though the world beyond yawned open as a blackened void, Wirt threw himself into it.

And Wirt fell.

*

Wirt hit the damp forest floor with a thud. Groaning in pain, Wirt managed to roll onto his back and looked up to see Greg staring down at him, looking more worried than Wirt had ever seen him.

“Wirt, come on, we don’t have much time!”

“H-huh? What are you talking about, Greg?”

“The Beast came… h-he came back Wirt. I don’t know how but he came back and grabbed you right before we jumped into the pond to go home. I chased him and he dropped you but you weren’t waking up, and the Queen came and told me I could help you wake up but we have to go NOW Wirt!”

“What?” Wirt grabbed his head and felt wetness. Was his forehead bleeding? He remembered the Beast in the woods. “A-am I still dreaming?”

“NO! Wirt, we have to go RIGHT NOW! The Queen said if we don’t, we won’t get to go home EVER!”

“What queen? Greg, you’re not making sense!”

Greg grabbed Wirt’s arm and pulled instead of answering. Wirt moaned, but let Greg pull him up and got to his feet. The brothers ran through the forest, back to the pond where they entered the Unknown. The two stood on the edge of the water and Greg continued to pull Wirt.

“Follow me, Wirt!” Greg insisted as he dragged Wirt into the shallows. Wirt froze for a moment.

“Greg, where’s your frog?”

“Frog?”

“Yeah, uh, J-Jason Funderburker. Your frog.”

“He doesn’t matter!” Greg snapped. Greg doesn’t snap.

Wirt gasped. “I-I’m dreaming.”

“FOLLOW ME WIRT!” Greg’s mouth opened wide, his fingers dug into Wirt’s wrist. Wirt turned sharply but couldn’t break the grip.

“WIRT! THAT’S NOT ME, WIRT!” Wirt turned his head and saw Greg on the shore, looking at him with deep fear in his eyes. He was holding a frog in his arms.

“Greg!” Wirt felt a burst of energy course through him. He yanked his arm free of the doppelganger and slopped through the water toward his brother. He heard a yell behind him.

“WIRT NO! It’s a trick! I’m Greg! You have to follow me, or we can’t go home!” The Greg in the water was crying. Wirt didn’t know what to do.

“Okay well… l-looking at this logically…” Wirt found thinking hard, but tried anyway. “D-drowning doesn’t seem like it’ll help so… I should go to shore.”

“NO!”

“YES!”

“O-on the other hand….” Wirt squinted through the pain in his head. “If I’m wrong, I might not get home but…”

“YES!”

“NO!”

Wirt looked from one Greg to the other. His knees shook. His head hurt so much.

“I-I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” Wirt whispered.

“I know what you should do.”

Wirt looked up. Above his head was a beautiful woman hovering in the sky. In her arms was Greg, looking down at him with tears in his eyes. His voice cracked when he spoke.

“Wirt, please wake up,” Greg begged. “Please wake up for real. The Queen says if I can’t convince you this time, I won’t be able to try again.”

“I-I don’t know how.” Wirt looked at Greg with round eyes. “Greg, I-I don’t know how to wake up. I keep trying, and it doesn’t work. The dreams keep getting weirder. Why can’t I wake up?”

Greg looked up at the woman now. “Why can’t Wirt wake up? I keep telling him to, why won’t he do it?”

The woman shook her head slowly, looking down at the boy in her arms with pity. “He has sunk too far down. He is too cold. His clothes are heavier than yours. You must let him go, now.”

“Let me go? What? No! No, don’t leave me here! GREG!” Wirt yelled.

“No! Please! There has to be another way!” Greg begged. The Queen shook her head again.

“You have held your brother to the cusp life within the world of dreams. But he cannot join you now in the waking world. If you do not release him, he will become trapped here and go mad. If you let him go, he may return to the Unknown. He may make his existence there. He may find friends there. It is mercy, Greg.”

Wirt stood in an empty void. He looked up at the Queen and Greg, and shuddered, imagining being trapped here forever.

“I-if there’s no way to go back…” Wirt couldn’t believe his words, “I-I don’t want to be stuck here. Let me… let me go back to the Unknown. I-I’ll find Beatrice again. It’ll be okay Greg.”

“But Wirt!” Greg looked at his brother with helplessness. He was so small. Wirt forced a smile on his face.

“It’ll be okay, Greg.” Wirt said, and then suddenly stood ramrod straight, his skin bleaching snow white as he fell backwards into the pond, sinking beneath the surface. Greg screamed.

*

“ _It’ll be okay, Greg.”_

Greg’s eyes shot open. He sat up in his hospital bed, tears rushing down his cheeks. He turned to see his mother sobbing next to him. He heard a steady beep that stretched out into infinite. His father let out a yell and suddenly he was swept up into a tight hug.

“Greg, honey, Greg’s alive. He’s awake.”

“But Wirt… my baby Wirt…”

There was a rush of people in white coats running about. He was shuttled into another room. He saw only a brief vision of his brother’s face before a sheet was pulled over it.

Greg never felt lost in the Unknown. He felt lost now. He clutched the sides of his head and shut his eyes tight as he whispered frantically to himself. “Wake up, Greg, please, please wake up…”


End file.
